Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the gaming firm of billionaire Enrique K. Razon Jr., has renewed interest to dispose of its loss-making South Korean unit in Jeju Island.
In its disclosure, the company said its South Korean indirect subsidiary, Golden and Luxury Co. Ltd. has signed a share purchase agreement with Gangwon Blue Mountain Co. Ltd.
Under the agreement, Bloomberry will spin-off, or demerge, its South Korean casino business into a separate company and then sell this to Gangwon.
A down payment of 500 million Korean won was given to Bloomberry, but the price will be determined after the spin-off.
‘The completion of the transaction and payment of the purchase price shall be conditioned on completion of the demerger, due diligence and regulatory approvals,’ Bloomberry said in its disclosure.
In April 2015, Bloomberry, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Solaire Korea, acquired majority ownership of G and L, which operated a hotel and casino property in Jeju under the brand name T.H.E Hotel and Vegas Casino.
Upon takeover of operations by Bloomberry, the property was rebranded as Jeju Sun Hotel and Casino. The property consists of a 202-room hotel with 5 Hibiscus rating, 2,000 square meters of gaming space with 36 tables and 20 electronic gaming machines.
The property has four food and beverage outlets to service its hotel guests and casino players. In 2018, a reorganization was implemented to separate hotel and casino operations.
In the fourth quarter of 2018, Jeju Sun embarked on a renovation project covering 164 rooms, restaurants, lobby, building facade, sports bar, gym, sauna, back of the house and a new ballroom for the purpose of securing the 5 Hibiscus rating that is required to keep its gaming license. Renovations were completed in December 2019.
Bloomberry had previously attempted to sell its Jeju operations amid financial challenges, and focus on the much larger operations in the Philippines.
For the first half of the year, Jeju Sun registered net revenues of P128.69 million, a 20 percent decline from the previous year’s P160.86 million.
It incurred a net loss of P64.16 million, narrower than the previous year’s P116.86 million.